Clergy pushes Medicaid expansion

Thursday

Mar 21, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 21, 2013 at 9:53 AM

The loaves were real, the fish were made out of paper colored by crayons, and the meal was meant for 99 people, not 5,000. But members of the clergy said their delivery of baskets of "fishes and loaves" to members of the Ohio House yesterday symbolically represented the religious leaders' support for expanding Medicaid to cover 275,000 more uninsured low-income Ohioans.

The loaves were real, the fish were made out of paper colored by crayons, and the meal was meant for 99 people, not 5,000.

But members of the clergy said their delivery of baskets of “fishes and loaves” to members of the Ohio House yesterday symbolically represented the religious leaders’ support for expanding Medicaid to cover 275,000 more uninsured low-income Ohioans.

Never mind that the baskets ended up in the mailroom at the Riffe Center and not in the hands of legislators.

“It doesn’t take a miracle to do the right thing,” said the Rev. Timothy Ahrens Sr. of the First Congregational Church. “We are a people of abundance. We can feed our own people.”

Gov. John Kasich’s proposed Medicaid expansion has drawn wide support from the public, the clergy, business groups, hospitals and health- and mental-health-care providers. Still, Republican legislative leaders are looking far and wide to Texas, Alabama and Florida for alternatives.

Yesterday’s food parade began at Trinity Episcopal Church, 125 E. Broad St., where supporters picked up baskets and carried them across Capitol Square to the Riffe Center. Because it was an ecumenical gathering, the baskets also included matza.

The story of the loaves and fishes comes from the Bible’s New Testament: Jesus performed a miracle by feeding a crowd of 5,000 with just two fish and five loaves of bread.

Tom Smith of the Ohio Council of Churches said, “It’s hard for me to understand why so many people are on the other side of this issue. There’s not a good reason to be opposed to this.” The Rev. Eric Brown, pastor of Woodland Christian Church, said providing medical coverage for more people is good for everyone in the state. “Illness isn’t profitable,” he said.

However, some conservative Republicans oppose expanding the massive entitlement program, part of “Obamacare.”

Next week, Rep. Barbara Sears, R-Sylvania, will travel to Texas to meet with Republican leaders having similar discussions.

“We are looking for alternatives,” Sears said. “We want to get a feel for what other states are doing.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government would pay the entire expansion cost for the first three years, with the match dwindling to 90 percent after that. Ohio would save $404 million over the next two years by increasing Medicaid eligibility to those earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level; that would be mostly childless adults under age 65 earning about $15,400 or less a year. Poor children and parents already qualify for coverage, and older Ohioans receive health care through Medicare.

House Finance Chairman Ron Amstutz, R-Wooster, said Republicans are mostly focusing on two alternatives to expanding Medicaid.

The first would be using federal funds to purchase private coverage through the new state health exchange for those people under 138 percent of the poverty level. This plan would be subject to federal approval and likely a two- or three-year pilot. Some legislators think the private option is more of “a hand up and out” of poverty because it would allow individuals to keep the same coverage as their income grows.

The second option would provide more targeted assistance to those with specific conditions or hardships and likely would be funded by the state.